Samsung SDS announced on the 8th at COEX Convention Center that it has become the first Korean company to participate in OpenAI’s Daybreak Partner Program, while formally declaring its entry into the robotic transformation (RX) business.
The announcement was made by CEO Lee Jun-hee during the Enterprise AXE Conference ‘Real Summit 2026,’ which attracted more than 8,000 attendees. Samsung SDS is pursuing a ‘multi-dimensional AI full-stack’ strategy that combines AI infrastructure, platforms, and solutions with consulting, development, deployment, and operations capabilities. The company aims to bridge the gap between AI adoption and business outcomes by integrating these capabilities with its industry expertise.
Samsung SDS said its participation as a pilot partner in OpenAI’s Daybreak Partner Program marks the first time a Korean company has joined the initiative. Through the partnership, the company plans to proactively leverage OpenAI’s next-generation models and provide comprehensive AI security services.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated in a video message that “Samsung SDS is a global top-tier partner with optimal capabilities to deeply understand how businesses actually operate and successfully introduce new technologies.”
CEO Lee Jun-hee emphasised at the conference that “AI transformation (AX) is a fundamentally different and much more fundamental change than simply introducing AI to save time and costs. It means completely redesigning the business and work methods themselves from the ground up.” He added that “AI changes work, but AXE changes business.”
Samsung SDS’s move into robotic transformation is supported by its 25-year track record of implementing facility and logistics automation for more than 430 clients. The company plans to launch a ‘Robot Orchestration Platform’ next year that connects and operates production facilities and robots to realise manufacturing automation.
As part of its RX strategy, Samsung SDS has established a strategic partnership with Waldean Robotics, a global humanoid robot specialist.
Waldean Robotics CEO Russ Tedrake stated that “Physical AI is a technology that will drive innovation in manufacturing, but to apply it to actual production sites and create measurable results, large-scale field application capabilities and business understanding are essential. We are very pleased to partner with Samsung SDS, which has the best capabilities in this field.”
Samsung SDS is also expanding collaborations with global frontier AI companies and is currently building an ecosystem with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Cloud, and NVIDIA. The company established a strategic partnership with Anthropic in San Francisco in July as part of this expansion.
CEO Lee Jun-hee explained that “for true AI full-stack, consulting to help execute AXE must be provided, as well as professional capabilities in development, deployment, and operations, and this is only possible when supported by an accurate understanding of the customer’s business.” Samsung SDS’s strategy therefore centres on combining its infrastructure, platform, and solution capabilities with industry expertise accumulated across various sectors.
